Bolivia's Morales 'to annul' road contract

Decision casts further doubt on project to build a controversial highway through the Amazon rainforest.

12 Apr 2012 00:28 GMT

Indigenous Bolivians staged protests last year over fears the TIPNIS project could destroy their way of life

Evo Morales, the Bolivian president, has said he was rescinding the contract awarded to Brazil's OAS to build a road through the Amazon forest, casting further doubt on a project that unleashed fierce anti-government protests last year.

Morales announced the decision to "annul" the contract on Wednesday, seeking to ease tensions over the $420m project that sparked strong opposition from within the president's indigenous support base.

"We've started a process to annul the road construction contract, which was granted to OAS, because the company hasn't complied [with the terms]," he said, adding that the company had suspended work "without justification or authorisation."